na

ly packed and zipped shut, the

f the bed in the ai

, I heard the fron

the door open, bringing in the chill of early autumn and th

onto a chair, approaching me with a well

bing the back of his neck. "Did you manage to get an

on the sofa an

e had not ca

hours between seven and eleven, nor did he even bo

my way back and wait for him all

d not know how to shut off the main water valve. The place was a

front of me, movin

t familiar, tender register

ke up for our anniversary tomorrow. W

nds made contact with my sho

froze in

sed his eyes, but he quickly ma

ands and turned

r. "I still need to help Sophie revise a pro

d not

o the bedroom, and softly

absolute dark, taking out my phone and

ce message button

appendectomy two weeks ago. I almost died in this house. The inc

o of th

later, the messa

erfectl

rd the distinct notification chime r

inking at my

creen lit up, and William'

erst

line of text appeared

ce I am done with this busy peri

s of text glowing in the d

, empty laugh that

ink his quick replies m

ys kept his phone close

rstood the

because he did n

t because he d

someone hear you if they hav

rson who is pretending to b